Dan Popper and Ben Stryker
Editorial Director and Staff Cartoonist
The struggle to the find and buy the perfect jersey is something that plagues all sports fans. Qualities like team, color and player all play a key role in the deciding on a jersey. Students shared their favorite jerseys as well as characteristics they looked for when buying jerseys.
“They quality doesn’t really matter, its more the person,” junior Thomas Rochlin said. “However, sometimes I wear an authentic jersey as opposed to other jerseys which are considered replicas. Replicas tend to be more comfortable and cheaper than authentics.”
Senior jersey enthusiast Christian Cottington has different ideas on what make a jersey worth buying. “It has got to look fresh and have appealing colors,” he said. “But, I think colors always comes second to team. I only buy jerseys from my favorite teams, unless the jersey is of a sick player I like.”
Junior Colin Dolan also looks for good colors and good players in his jerseys. “I’m always looking for a good color scheme [in my jerseys],” he said. “Some jerseys can be good even if the team is bad as long as the colors look sick. Other times you go for big players with jerseys just to show off.”
Thomas said that he has been wearing jerseys since fourth grade, jersey buying has become a big hobby for him. He also said that he adds most to his collection around the holidays when he receives jerseys as presents from relatives and friends. “At Christmas time my mom tends to buy me some jerseys, it really is a good Christmas treat,” he said. “[Receiving jerseys as presents] was more along the lines in sixth or seventh grade but every once in a while its not terrible to get a jersey.”
In his large collection, Thomas has some favorite jersey recommendations and he explained what parts of these jerseys make them so special. “I would say [my Walter Payton throwback jersey]is probably one of my more favorite jerseys,” he said. “I really like it because Walter Payton was my favorite player and it is an alternate jersey so it does not have the traditional Bears colors.”
Christian also has an unquestionable favorite jersey in his assortment. “[My favorite] has got to be my Cleveland Cavaliers LeBron James jersey with gold embroidery,” he said. “It’s not that hot right now but I still love it.”
In the end, jerseys are what we make them and how we wear them. They can be our most prized possessions when signed, they can contain great memories, but most importantly they help us to show off our team pride. However, it’s really the tremendous versatility of jerseys that make them so loved by sports fans everywhere.
